Vincent Valdez heads up the finish straight in the 300 hurdles. Photo by Steve Rex.
As with any track meet, some dreams were fulfilled and others were dashed.
As prestigious as Great Southwest is among post-season high school track meets, it doesn't quite match the adrenaline-enhancing effect of state track for most athletes. Still, there were some noteworthy performances from the Colorado contingent.
The Mason Finley victory tour continued in Albuquerque with throws of 68-5 and 215-11. Otherwise, the main highlight for the Colorado boys came in the 110 hurdles. Although national elite Wayne Davis won the event, Colorado was very nicely represented with Tashaun Hill in second, Tarique Hill in third, and Kelby Dias in fourth. All three came in under 14 seconds, though the marks were aided by a 4.6 wind.
For the girls, the 4 X 800 relay of Eleanor Fulton, Sam Berggren, Kara Slavoski, and Samantha Thompson did not disappoint, winning in 9:08.33. Colorado showed equally well in the 1500, with Fulton, Slavoski, and Clare Gallagher going 2-3-4, led by Fulton's time of 4:50.13. Perhaps most remarkable of all was the 19-4.75 long jump (+2.1) posted by Brittany Lewis. Such was the level of competition, however, that Lewis finished fourth.
Update: Maybe even more remarkable yet was the new national age group mark of 6:57.81 posted by Eleanor Fulton in the 2000 meter steeplechase.
The multi-event competition, Cory Engel led the Colorado boys in the decathlon, finishing fourth with 6089 points. Engel finished second to New Mexico phenom Curtis Beach in both the 110 hurdles and 400 meters.
Among the heptathletes, Colorado was paced by Holly Odneal, with finished at 15th with 3849 points. Odneal managed a second place in the shot put for her top finish in the individual events of the heptathlon.
